Wood strip boat hull structure and sealing means



F. P. WINTER Jan. 25, 1955 Filed Dec. 10, 1951 Franklin E Win f er WOOD'STRIP BOAT HULL STRUCTURE AND SEALING MEANS I N V EN TOR.

BY orig wt EM United States Patent WOOD STRIP BOAT HULL STRUCTURE AND SEALING MEANS Franklin P. Winter, Tomahawk, Wis.

Application December 10, 1951, Serial No. 260,885

1 Claim. (Cl. 114-86) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in boat structures and the primary object of the present invention is to provide a wood constructed boat composed of strips that are interconnected in a novel and improved manner.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide a boat hull composed of a plurality of side by side strips each of which is provided with a channeled groove throughout its length, whereby an elastic sealing compound may be forced completely through the groove at one end thereof to join adjacent strips.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a boat hull composed of strips as aforementioned with a pair of longitudinally extending nubs on each strip on opposite sides of the groove to prevent the sealing compound from passing between adjacent strips.

A still further aim is to provide a strip boat hull structure that is simple and practical in construction, strong and reliable in use, neat and attractive in appearance, eflicient and reliable in use, inexpensive to manufacture, and otherwise well adapted for the purposes for which the same is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, references being had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the method employed for forming a strip boat hull structure in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a detail vertical sectional view of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged view of Figure 2 and showing the upper portion of one strip; and,

Figure 4 is a perspective view of two adjacent strips to show the manner in which the same are arranged to form the boat hull.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein for the purpose of illustration, there is disclosed a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the numeral represents an elongated wooden, preferably cedar, strip having first and second longitudinal edges 12 and 14. Edge 12 is transversely convex, whereas edge 14 is transversely concave.

Edge 12 is provided with an oflset longitudinally extending V-shaped groove or channeled groove 16 that extends throughout the length of the strip. A pair of spaced parallel, smoothly rounded ribs or nubs 18 and 20 are molded by a wood molder or sticker, on the edge 12 on opposite sides of the groove 16.

When the hull structure 26 is formed, the strips 10 will be disposed in side by side relationship and will extend the complete length of the hull. The edge 12 of one strip will enter the edge 14 of an adjacent strip and the nubs 18 and 20 of the said one strip will abut the concave surface of the edge 14 of the said adjacent strip.

The ribs or bowed members (not shown) of the hull are positioned relative to the planks or strips 10 and metallic straps 28 are placed over the hull forming strips 10 and their ends are engaged with jacks 30 whose feed screws abut the hull strips 32. The jacks are actuated to force the strips together and the strips are secured by screws to the ribs.

The first step is to clean the grooves by blasts of air therethrough. Then an elastic sealing compound C, such as Sealer 900, a product of Marine Products, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, is forced completely through each groove at their open ends. This composition is a freely flowing liquid composed essentially of a synthetic rubber like resin base dissolved in a suitable volatile water miscible solvent and which dries to a tough resilient, water insoluble mass adhering to wood but not penetrating the same. The open ends of the grooves are then closed by putty or the like.

After the sealer dries, approximately 4 hours, it will not flow and it adheres to the abutting edges of adjacent plankings or strips to form a water tight bond.

The quality of the compound allows the wood strips to shrink together or dry apart at which time the ,5 inch head of compound to elastically retain the seam absolutely water tight.

The nubs contact adjoining strips when strips are pulled together and compress against the edges 14 to insure positive seal of channeled area; so that upon application of sealer in the above described manner, no sealer will leak out between adjacent strips but will continue to flow along entire length of strip and channel.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

In a wooden boat hull, a plurality of fiat strips of wood extending edge to edge longitudinally of the hull and having sides, each of the strips including a transversely convex longitudinal edge and a transversely concave longitudinal edge, the convex longitudinal edge of one strip being provided with a longitudinally extending coextensive and V-shaped groove therein and with a pair of longitudinally extending coextensive edge ribs thereon upon opposite sides of the groove rounded in cross-section and spaced from the sides of said one strip and seating in the concave edge of an adjacent strip, and an elastic adhesive synthetic rubber composition filling said groove and adhesively securing said convex and concave edges together between said ribs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,461,239 Friedline July 10, 1923 1,521,933 Drake Jan. 6, 1925 1,637,973 Thompson Aug. 2, 1927 1,767,101 Thompson June 24, 1930 1,805,812 De Witt May 19, 1931 2,021,341 Ward Nov. 19, 1935 2,345,775 Smith Apr. 14, 1944 2,505,544 Higgins Apr. 25, 1950 2,525,659 Edson Oct. 10, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 68,058 Norway July 10, 1944 91,026 Austria Jan. 25, 1923 962,554 France Dec. 12, 1949 

